


Pet Therapy

by universal_reno



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars: Thrawn Series - Timothy Zahn (2017)
Genre: Background Thranto, Crack and Angst, Ezra Bridger and Thrawn | Mitth'raw'nuruodo's Space Adventures, Fluff, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Pet Parent Thrawn, Pets, Probably ooc, Stranded, Ysalamiri (Star Wars)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:47:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27186785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/universal_reno/pseuds/universal_reno
Summary: Thrawn finds an unexpected companion during his Ezra-induced second exile
Comments: 7
Kudos: 17





	Pet Therapy

**Author's Note:**

> I have this idea that Thrawn and Ezra end up stranded on a planet overrun with invasive ysalamiri following their adventures with space whales. Thrawn is considerably happier about it than Ezra is, even if the local wildlife seems inordinately attached to him. Then at some point they get rescued and Eli has to learn to live with his husband's menagerie of hyper-protective, force sensitive lizards🦎
> 
> May do another part of this about how Thrawn came across baby Jarl in the first place.

Jarl was, Thrawn had to concede, quite possibly the stupidest ysalamir in the galaxy. He hissed as the little creature sank the claws of one forefoot into the flesh of his arm. They'd moved past this, at least he'd thought so, but it seemed Jarl still wasn't entirely convinced it couldn't absorbe nutrients from Thrawn's skin the same way it did from the trees its kind lived in. Or were supposed to live in, anyway. 

Thrawn carefully plucked the needle-like claws out of his arm and settled the creature on the ground beside him instead. Jarl immediately tried to climb back up into his lap. When that wasn't permitted it butted its head repeatedly against Thrawn's hand, determined to be pet despite his intention to discipline it. 

"No" he scolded. The ysalamir cocked its head and turned all four glossy black eyes up towards him without any hint of comprehension. Thrawn sighed. What did he expect, talking to a lizard? Not that there was anyone else around to talk to.

To say that ending up stranded on yet another uninhabited jungle world had been an unpleasant turn of events was an understatement. To have been dragged there by an insolent brat of a Jedi who'd killed his entire crew and destroyed years of work in the process certainly didn't improve matters. He should be glad Bridger was dead, or at least had been deposited sufficiently far away as to be of no immediate significance. Just surviving was plenty to keep him busy with no sentient companionship whatsoever, thank you very much.

Thrawn sighed and dropped his forehead down to rest against his knees. Who was he kidding? The solitude was driving him mad, the guilt doubly so. He'd failed everyone. His crew, the Chiss, Eli... What had he really been able to do for any of them, in the end? 

Sharp prickles of pain tore up his leg, then his arm as Jarl took the opportunity to climb back up to its perch on his shoulder. It kneeded at the tattered fabric of his uniform tunic as it settled itself, then curled its tail around the back of his neck and began to nudge his cheek. Nudging turned to licking, the reptile's slender tongue tickling his skin until he gave up trying to ignore it. 

"You're a brat of a creature, do you know that?" he chided, skritching the lizard under its chin. Jarl made an odd, contented little coo. It was the same sound other ysalamiri of its approximate life stage used to communicate with their parents. Thrawn had been baffled when he'd first realized the little thing considered him its mother, but it wasn't as though any member of its own species wanted to deal with the job.

He stretched his legs out in front of him and leaned back against the worn stone of the crumbling ruin that was his current home. A gap in the roof high above exposed a broad swath of sky painted vivid shades of orange and red by the binary sunset. Jarl wrapped itself closer and poked its snout under the collar of Thrawn's tunic, seeking warmth. The day's heat was just beginning to give way to the cool damp of evening. He bared his throat to it, tipping his head back so he could feel the heat radiating off the still warm stone through his hair. This time when he closed his eyes he saw Faro, glittering ice crystals dusting her cheeks as she drifted lifeless in the void. He shuddered and turned his face away as though he could somehow escape the images in his own mind. 

Jarl gave a sort of soft, hissing whine and nudged against him more forcefully. Before Thrawn could catch it it worked its way under his tunic. Tiny claws scratched his chest and stomach as it made itself comfortable, then popped its head out millimeters from his chin to stare up at him. 

"Suppose you'll be wanting food then" he said. He braced against the wall and pulled himself up, glad for the distraction. Jarl's tongue darted out and brushed his lower lip. Thrawn grimaced and put his hand in front of his mouth. 

"Spoiled little thing. Honestly, I don't know where I went wrong with you" he muttered. He kept one hand on the lizard shaped bulge under his tunic despite knowing Jarl was more than capable of clinging to him unaided. The real issue was extracting it once he reached the far corner of the room where one of its preferred trees grew through a partially crumbled section of wall. It sank its claws in again, this time leaving two rows of small, bloody pinpricks over Thrawn's collarbone. He really shouldn't put up with that sort of behavior. He'd had ysalamiri before and knew just how strong those claws would be in a few months. At least assuming Jarl was a ysalamir at all. It certainly looked and behaved like one, albeit a remarkably docile version, but without having any idea which planet he was on there was no way to be certain. 

Once more he plucked the creature off him. It thrashed and gnawed at his fingers when he tried to set it on its branch, but in the absence of any teeth there was little it could do other than sink its claws into the soft wood. It squeaked in distress, then immediately forgot all about it as it began to feed. A dreadfully stupid creature to be sure, but in the absence of any other companionship one that Thrawn had grown stupidly attached to. 

With Jarl sorted for the night he limped over to his own bed and slumped down onto the crudely woven mat of reeds. He'd never been much for handicrafts, but it was sufficient. At any rate it didn't make the injuries he'd sustained during his final battle flare quite as sharply as sleeping on the bare ground. He curled up on his good side and ran through his observations from the day until his breathing began to slow and even out. He'd hardly slept during his first few weeks of being stranded, until he was satisfied there were no predators around that could do him significant damage. Now only the horrors in his own head kept him awake. 

The corner of his mouth turned up when he heard faint scratching against the stones by his feet. Jarl's heat signature was clearly visible in the rapidly gathering twilight. Why it refused to sleep on its branch like every other ysalamir he didn't pretend to understand, but he also didn't mind. It skittered up to nestle against his chest, its small, chilly ears tickling the sensitive skin of his throat. He positioned himself so his arm was draped over it, offering warmth and security. Its presence soothed him, at least a little. For now he was willing to take whatever comfort he could find. 


End file.
